ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ Feb ru ary 1999 / 73 O n e -sto p s h o p p in g f o r c o lle g e r a n k in g s T h e E d u ca tio n a n d S o c ia l S c ie n c e Library a t t h e U n iv e r s it y o f I ll in o is a t U r b a n a - C h am paign offers on e -sto p s h o p p in g fo r W e b - b a sed c o lle g e ran kin g sites. F o u n d a t h ttp :/ / w w w .lib ra iy .u iu c .e d u / e d x / ra n k in g s .h tm , th e C o lle g e a n d U n iv e r­ sity R a n k in g s p a g e p ro v id e s lin ks to ra n k in g s erv ic es fo r vario u s a reas o f h ig h e r ed u c a tio n in clu d in g u n d erg rad u ate, g radu ate, b u s in e ss , la w , a n d in te r­ n a t i o n a l p r o ­ gram s. O n e can a ls o fin d a lin k- filled d is co u rs e c o n c e r n in g th e o n g o i n g c o n ­ t r o v e r s y s u r ­ ro u n d in g re p u ­ ta tio n -b a s e d ra n k in g s a n d a le n g th y b ib lio g ­ ra p h y o n th e to p ic . T h e R an kin gs p a g e tries to em p h a siz e ca u ­ tio n in th e u s e o f c o lle g e ra n k in g serv ices a n d u rges u sers to in v estigate th e m e th o d o lo g y o f a n y serv ice u n d e r co n sid era tio n . T o w a rd that e n d , a len g th y s e c tio n d ea lin g w ith th e o n g o ­ in g c o n tr o v e r s y o v e r r a n k in g s is p ro v id e d . T h e p a g e ’s c a u tio n a r y s e c tio n is a g u id e to s o m e very in terestin g n e tw o rk e d in fo rm atio n o n th e c o lle g e ran kin g p ro ce ss. U sers w ill find this in fo rm atio n h elp fu l w h e n trying to ev alu ­ a te in dividu al ra n k in g s e r v ic e s a n d w h e n try­ ing to d e c id e h o w m u c h w e ig h t ra n k in g s d e ­ serv e in th e c o lle g e s e le c tio n p ro c e ss . T h e C o lleg e an d U niversity R an kin gs p a g e w as created b y th e authors. It d eb u ted in O cto ­ b e r 1 9 9 7 a n d g a th e re d a sm all a m o u n t o f hits d u rin g it first h a lf y e a r o f e x is te n c e . In M arch an d April 1998, th e p a g e w as subm itted to vari­ o u s s ea rch e n g in es inclu ding Alta Vista, N orth­ ern Light, a n d In fo S e e k . F o llo w in g th e site's listin g in Y a h o o ! in M ay, its u s e s k y r o ck e te d . T h e p a g e c o n tin u e s to g r o w in p op u larity an d is n o w receiving b e tw e e n 25 and 3 0 ,0 0 0 hits p e r m o n th . O v e r 9 9 % o f th e p a g e’s us­ e r s a r e f r o m o u ts id e th e im ­ m e d i a t e U n i ­ v ersity o f Illin o is co m m u n ity a n d th e s e u sers g e n e r a te a stea d y stream o f e-m ail co n ce rn in g rankings. In m ak in g sp ecia l efforts to assist this n e w g r o u p o f p a tro n s, t h e lib r a ria n s o f th e E d u c a tio n a n d S o c ia l S c ie n c e Library d is c o v ­ e re d th e p o w e r o f th e W e b in re a c h in g o u t to n o n tradition al users. B rin g in g s o m e o rg a n iz a ­ tio n to a sm all c o m e r o f th e In te rn e t a n d serv ­ in g a n e n tire ly n e w a u d ie n c e h a v e b e e n tw o very satisfying o u tc o m e s m ad e p o ssib le b y th e c r e a tio n a n d m a in te n a n c e o f th e C o lle g e a n d U n iversity R a n k in g s P a g e .— D a n ie l B u r g a r d , U n iv e r s ity o f I llin o is , U r b a n a - C h a m p a ig n , d b u r g a r d @ u iu c .e d u ; S te p h a n ie R. D avis. U niver­ sity o f S o u th e rn C a lifo r n ia , sr d a v is@ u sc .ed u v ic e s s p o n s o r e d b y th e C e n tra l M ic h ig a n U n iv e rs ity (C M S ) L ib r a rie s a n d t h e CM U C o lle g e o f E x te n d e d L e a r n in g . T h e c o n ­ f e r e n c e w ill b e h e ld in P o rtla n d , O r e g o n , A pril 2 6 - 2 8 , 2 0 0 0 . P r o p o s a l a b s tr a c ts o f n o t m o re th a n 5 0 0 w o rd s are d u e b y M arch 12 , 1 9 9 9 . A c o p y o f th e C all fo r P r e s e n ta ­ tio n s a n d d eta ils a b o u t th e c o n f e r e n c e a re o n th e W e b a t http :/ / w w w .lib .cm ich .ed u / o c ls . C lick o n “R e s o u r c e s fo r O ff-C a m p u s L i b r a r i a n s . ” O r c o n t a c t C o n n i e H ild eb ran d at CMU: v o ic e : ( 5 1 7 ) 7 7 4 -6 0 8 0 ; t o l l - f r e e f a x : ( 8 7 7 ) 3 2 9 - 6 2 5 7 ; e - m a i l : c o n n ie .h ild e b r a n d @ c m ic h .e d u . ■ http://www.libraiy.uiuc.edu/ mailto:dburgard@uiuc.edu mailto:srdavis@usc.edu http://www.lib.cmich.edu/ mailto:connie.hildebrand@cmich.edu